Monday, March 31, 2014

In the face of mounting criticism and skepticism over Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's announcement on March 24 that Malaysia
Airlines Flight MH370 crashed into the Indian Ocean with no hope of
survivors, his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott has weighed in with
support for Najib's stand on the matter.

He said, “The accumulation of evidence is that the aircraft has been
lost and it has been lost somewhere in the south of the Indian Ocean,”
he told reporters at the Perth military base coordinating the search.

“That's the absolutely overwhelming wave of evidence and I think that
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was perfectly entitled to come to
that conclusion, and I think once that conclusion had been arrived at,
it was his duty to make that conclusion public.”

Flight MH370 disappeared from traffic control radars early March 8,
while carrying 239 passengers and crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The
disappearance sparked off a search and rescue operation involving 26
countries in areas as diverse as the South China Sea, the Malacca
Straits, Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean. To date, no wreckage has
been found.

Australia is coordinating the international hunt for the missing
Boeing 777, which involves about 100 personnel searching from onboard
surveillance aircraft and 1,000 sailors in ships in or near the search
zone.

“This is an extraordinarly difficult exercise. We are searching a
vast area of ocean and we are working on quite limited information,”
Abbott said.

“Nevertheless, the best brains in the world are applying themselves
to this task, all of the technological mastery that we have is being
applied and brought to bear here. If this mystery is solvable, we will
solve it. But I don't want to underestimate just how difficult it is.”
The Australian leader refused to put a time limit on the search,
saying: “We can keep searching for quite some time to come. The
intensity of our search and the magnitude of our search is increasing,
not decreasing.”

“We owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone that travels by
air, we owe it to the governments of the countries who had citizens on
that aircraft, we owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by
this mystery for three weeks now,” he said.

Students from China, currently pursuing
studies in Malaysia, and former students have urged the Chinese media as
well as the public in China not to tarnish Malaysia’s image following
the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 tragedy.

The Malaysian Association of China
Students Alumni (MACSA) president, Adam Huang said the association had
contacted the media in China through their embassy here, urging them not
to condemn Malaysia.

“We have contacted the media in China to
stop condemning Malaysia and tarnishing the country’s image. We also
want them to help restore the faith about Malaysia to the people in
China,” he told a press conference at Wisma MCA here, Sunday.

Besides that, he said the association
also had started efforts to explain the real situation following the
tragedy through the social media.

“Since the first week of the tragedy, we
started to use social media as a platform to express our gratitude to
the country (Malaysia) and the real situation here,” he said.

He said the social media users were also
requested to stop provoking the Malaysian authorities, which was
worsening the situation.

Meanwhile MACSA adviser Datuk Seri
Michael Chong said he was trying to assist these students on the issue
after they met him and said they must do something to rebuild the
situation.

Founded on Jan 5, 2012, the association
currently has more than 1,000 members, including current students and
alumni living in Malaysia and China.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and
12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41 am on March 8 and
disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South
China Sea. It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
then announced on March 24, 17 days after the disappearance of Flight
MH370 that it “ended in the southern Indian Ocean” based on an
unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data by the United Kingdom
satellite telecommunications company, Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents
Investigation Branch (AAIB).

Friday, March 28, 2014

Article 11 Federal Constitution of Malaysia:
11.(4) State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam.

The statement above is an excerpt text from the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. The bold wordings shows that no propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among a person professing the religion of Islam. As a Malaysian we all know for a fact that according to Article 3 of the Malaysian Constitution Islam is the religion of the federation but other religion can be practiced.

You can spin it any way you want but the fact of the matter is, the law of this country does not allow any religion to be propagate against Muslims. How hard is it to understand this matter? Seriously? Recently in, Taman Berjaya Indah Kajang Selangor after Wan Azizah Wan Ismail won the state seat, it was reported that Christian missionary was distributing flyers in a Malay/Muslim populated area.

You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand the provision in Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution. It doesn’t even have legal jargons for anyone to be confused. And up till today we are baffled on why Christian missionaries are trying their best to ignore the provisions laid down by Article 11 (4) of the Federal Constitution. Why on earth do they want to destroy the harmony and peace that we have enjoyed for decades?
We may believe in a higher power which is different from others, is it too hard for each and every one of us to respect each other. Furthermore, if the authority took action against these types of shenanigans, they will accuse the government of behaving like a tyrant. Just like when the authorities raid the Bible Society of Malaysia building. They keep on disregarding the fact that the government reaction is based on their action which clearly against the supreme law of the land i.e. the Malaysian Federal Constitution.

Malaysia is a melting pot of culture, religion and race. Keep it real. If it’s clearly against the rule of law in the country, then why do it? The laws are made like that for a reason. Just go with the flow. Abide the law and be happy, is it that hard for everyone to understand?

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Inmarsat is the leading organization on satellite monitoring which was established in 1979 by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Its main focus is to enable ships to stay in constant touch with any available ports and shores in order for them to get help if anything would happen to the vessel. The Inmarsat will connect ships and vessels no matter how far it went out to sea.

The Inmarsat has more than 60 location world-wide and provide around the clock support facilities for their patrons. Although it is a commercial based system, the Inmarsat are also involved in many search & rescue operations. They will provide and analyse data to be given to relevant authorities in such operation. After 35 years Inmarsat has emerged as the leading provider of Aerospace and Maritime information.

After 9th of March 2014, Inmarsat has been a household name in Malaysia. Before this, Inmarsat is known only to those who are involved in the maritime business, but now from the hawker stalls in Jakarta to the Malaysian Parliament in Kuala Lumpur, everyone are talking about Inmarsat and their contribution towards the search & rescue mission of flight MH370.

Some might think that satellite imagery that Inmarsat and militaries from the 26 nation is easily interpreted. This is the result of watching too much Hollywood movies. The raw data from satellites does not come with a clear full coloured image. Raw data are represented by a plotted image that must be processed by using complicated coding. Satellite imagery is not like when you take picture with your digital camera. It is more complicated than that.

A lot of criticism had come from the foreign and local media saying that the Malaysian government has not released the full information on the data collected by the search and rescue operators. Some has even criticized the blurry image of the satellite image saying that the government intentionally distorted the image so that the public cannot see the real condition on what is happening in the Indian oceans. Well, the truth is, this is the best that we can get out of the satellite photos. The Malaysian government has even released raw data to ensure that the public is up to date with the current scenario.

Malaysia has done its best to provide the facilities that is needed to find out what had happened to flight MH370. However, there are parties who think that that the government doesn’t doing enough just because they don’t understand the concept and method used by the search and rescue operator. On a lighter note, Malaysia was praised by all of the commanding officers of the 26 nations that were directly involved with the search operation. US Navy Commander William Marks stated that the Malaysian government has done an exceptional job in coordinating the water-space and airspace management in finding the plane.

Even though criticised harshly by the media, the government of Malaysia turn a deaf ear on the comments and focus all their efforts on investigating what had happened to the plane. This is a true meaning of responsibility. The Malaysian government should be praised for their everlasting conviction and determination in the search for flight MH370.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

His statement made at parliament lobby today in response to
questions from reporters puts the jitters on present MenteriBesar Tan Sri
Khalid Ibrahim and of course, puts the smile on Khalid’s ‘political enemy’
Azmin Ali.

Khalid had stated many times and openly that he would stay on
until the end of his term which is until the next general election in 2018.

He had ‘strategically’ put Azmin out of action with his last move
– removing Azmin from the board of director of Selangor Development Corporation
(PKNS) – after being push to the corner since he became MenteriBesar in 2008.

And the Kajang Move, which had at first made him feel uneasy as
Anwar himself will be contesting and unseat him instead of Azmin, had suddenly
made him feel very, very comfortable as Anwar was sentenced to five years jail
and replaced by party president herself, Wan Azizah.

Khalid is more comfortable with Wan Azizah and vice-versa as both
shared similar minds – politicallly naïve and professional in their approaches.

However, Khalid forgot or probably took it easy in that he would
have thought with Anwar’s conviction and sentenced, Wan Azizah would just
remain as an exco member of the state assembly and let him run the state as he
has been doing since 2008.

At the same time, since both – he and Wan Azizah – have similar
approaches on matters of the state, he would feel very comfortable considering
Wan Azizah would allow him a free hand and he only need to brief and inform her
of his plans and intended policies.

But since Anwar stated this morning that Wan Azizah would be made
MenteriBesar since she has won the kajang state serat and the Kajang Move was
indeed to replace the MenteriBesar, Khalid is back to his volatile position and
sleepless nights.

This means Anwar still call the shots, and he still will even when
he is in prison, which means Khalid’s attempts to unseat Azmin seems to be a
far fetched reality.

Wan Azizah may not like Azmin and may want Khalid to stay on as
MenteriBesar and probably be her deputy in the party but Anwar calls the shot
and Wan Azizah has no choice, just like when she was made to stand for him in
the recently concluded Kajang state seat by-election.

Given such a scenario, Khalid will have to ‘kiss his MenteriBesar
seat goodbye’ and if luck is with him, Wan Azizah may convince Anwar for Khalid
to be deputy president as a trade-in.

Bias information and
reports are not a rarity in the western media. For decades we have been fed by
half-truth reports just so that they can ensure a certain criteria or agenda is
met. Bias reporting of foreign media has also been used as a weapon to
propagate certain “facts” to justify actions taken by any parties even
though the facts are not true.

The fact of the matter is, the news reported by CNN is always favouring certain
countries and this does not includes Malaysia. Frankly speaking, many Asian
countries have suffered badly at the hands of CNN and their foreign
correspondent. Who can ever forget how CNN tries to defame the Thai government
during the reign of AbhisitVejjajiva the former Thai Prime Minister. CNN was
adamant in showing that the whole of Thailand is in flames with riots and
looting. The same video showing rioters protesting on the streets were
repeatedly shown. The real situation was actually very different then what CNN
portrays. The rioting incident only happens in Bangkok, while people in Hatyai,
Krabi and other places in Thailand are chilling at the beach while sipping Pina
Coladas with no worries.

The same goes to incident in Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and many more
countries in Asia. The news they report are sometimes based on rumours and
speculation made so that they can get more viewers to watch their channel and
click into their portal. There don’t care about facts or the truth. Even China
was a subject of CNN persecution, who can forget the Tiananmen Square incident
where a Chinese protestor stood in front of a Chinese Army’s tank. They
did not even show the full video of the incident. What they did was, they show
the first part of the video, then they cut it off right when the tank about to
move. Thus indicating the tank crush the “Tank Man” making the world see that
the Chinese government is heartless. What really happened was, the Chinese Army
Tank moves aside avoiding the famous “Tank Man” and no one was injured or died
in this particular incident.

CNN has constructed a decades of lies, their reasons for these lies might
varied but we the people of the world must understand that they are not the
responsible source that we should rely on, especially in any incident involving
Asian countries. While CNN based most of their stories on half-baked facts, Fox
New on the other hand are more of a tabloid type of news agency. They are not
interested at the real facts but more towards creating a story that will
enhance the imagination particularly of the American people.

Who could forget the accusation that they made to their own president Mr Barack
Obama by calling him the Anti-Christ. Because of the American freedom of speech
and their liberal press laws, no legal action can be taken by Fox News. However
the president of the United States will always take a jab at Fox News during
the White House Correspondent Dinner as a way to get even to the news agency.
Fox News racist slurs and anti-Asian stand is not a new thing. They have been
ridiculing Asian, Middle Easterners and some European countries for decades.
Sadly many of us here in Malaysia still believe their story and use it as
a source of facts.

We should not get all worked up with their actions as both of these networks
are consider not credible even in their own country. The statements made by
their correspondent in the event of crisis are also marred with personal opinion
and negative sentiments towards a certain group of people. Their reports on the
MH370 flights are a reminder that both of these news agencies are not reliable.
Their main target is to provoke and to see what happens with their provocation.
Lately they are trying to provoke the people of China to hate the Malaysian
government by saying that the Malaysian government lies to the world. But what
they forget is that the information given by the Malaysian authorities consists
of collective resource that is contributed by more than 26 countries worldwide.
If CNN and Fox News were truly sincere in their reports, they should have
mentioned the fact Malaysia is not the only country that are involved in the
search and rescue mission.

In the time of crisis, we as human beings should stand and work together.
Spreading lies and unfounded accusation is not the way to go. Maybe we should
all boycott news and agencies like Fox News and CNN just to show them that we
demand real stories and not some fairy tales that they conjured up out of
nowhere.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

At the end of the Kajang by-election we are wondering what will happen next. Will Wan Azizah be the first female Menteri Besar of Selangor? Will Khalid Ibrahim patch things up with Anwar and Azmin? Will the water shortage in Selangor ever be taken care off?

All that we have now are questions. Even though they won the Kajang by-election, most Malaysians know that the real reason for the Kajang move is not for the benefit of the Pakatan Rakyat, but it is solely because of PKR internal problems.

Suddenly Khalid Ibrahim position as the Menteri Besar of Selangor is threatened and now although they are all smiles and holding hands while celebrating Wan Azizah’s win in the by-election we can feel the tension that exist between them. It is crucial for all Malaysian to understand that PKR is the game maker in this particular scenario, and they have the power to change the course of the Selangor’s administration even if they only have certain amounts of seats to begin with.

Anwar Ibrahim is in a conundrum when Wan Azizah (his wife) is pit against Azmin Ali (a long-time family friend) while Khalid Ibrahim is seen as favouring Wan Azizah more than Azmin. Khalid Ibrahim are backed by the DAP while Azmin is seen as an ultra-Malay by some DAP leaders stand close to Anwar Ibrahim to ensure his survival in this battle of supremacy of the PKR party.

PKR is doing a good job in silencing two of the biggest opposition party in Malaysia which is namely PAS and DAP. Many PAS leaders have voice out their concern on PKR political game. They are worried that PKR is trying to manipulate the Islamic party into being their political servant rather than partners in administrating states controlled by the Pakatan Rakyat. DAP on the other hand are only concerned with the Chinese population, that is why all Chinese media controlled by the DAP supports Khalid Ibrahim’s administration of Selangor. This can be seen clearly during the Langat 2 MoU signing by Khalid Ibrahim and the Federal Government a move detest by Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali.

The Kajang Move is necessary for PKR, not only to reduce the tension that are currently gripping the party, but it is also to ensure that PKR would always be relevant in their hope to take the helm of the nation. The party is currently trying to reinvent themselves so that the people of Malaysia would look up to Anwar Ibrahim as they did in 1998. That is also the reason why they are proclaiming the Reformasi 2.0 campaign during Wan Azizah’s candidacy in the by-election.

What we can concur on these particular events happening especially in Selangor, PKR are afraid that they are losing touch with the people. There are no major issue that they could carry to smear the good name of Barisan Nasional and its leaders. The PKR is playing a dangerous game; it is up to us the rakyat to understand the real situation. The people must know the truth about PKR. Other Pakatan Rakyat leaders must also be cautious of PKR and their cronies; it has been proven from time to time that they only work for themselves and no other.

I stand before you today not only as the Group Chief Executive Officer
of Malaysia Airlines, but also as a parent, as a brother, as a son. My
heart breaks to think of the unimaginable pain suffered by all the
families. There are no words which can ease that pain. Everyone in the
Malaysia Airlines family is praying for the 239 souls on MH370 and for
their loved ones on this dark day. We extend our prayers and sincere
condolences.

We all feel enormous sorrow and pain. Sorrow that
all those who boarded Flight MH370 on Saturday 8th March, will not see
their families again. And that those families will now have to live on
without those they love. It must be remembered too that 13 of our own
colleagues and fellow Malaysians were also on board.

And let me
be very clear on the events of yesterday evening. Our sole and only
motivation last night was to ensure that in the incredibly short amount
of time available to us, the families heard the tragic news before the
world did. Wherever humanly possible, we did so in person with the
families or by telephone, using SMS only as an additional means of
ensuring fully that the nearly 1,000 family members heard the news from
us and not from the media.

Ever since the disappearance of Flight
MH370 Malaysia Airlines focus has been to comfort and support the
families of those involved and support the multi-national search effort.
We will continue to do this, while we also continue to support the work
of the investigating authorities in the Southern Indian Ocean.

Like
everyone else, we are waiting for news from those authorities. We know
that while there have been an increasing number of apparent leads,
definitive identification of any piece of debris is still missing. It is
impossible to predict how long this will take. But after 17 days, the
announcement made last night and shared with the families is the reality
which we must now accept. When Malaysia Airlines receives approval from
the investigating authorities, arrangements will be made to bring the
families to the recovery areas if they so wish. Until that time, we will
continue to support the ongoing investigation. And may I express my
thanks to the Government and all of those involved in this truly global
search effort.

In the meantime, Malaysia Airlines
overwhelming focus will be the same as it has been from the outset
to provide the families with a comprehensive support programme. Through a
network of over 700 dedicated caregivers, the loved ones of those on
board have been provided with two dedicated caregivers for each family,
providing care, support and counsel. We are now supporting over 900
people under this programme and in the last 72 hours, we have trained an
additional 40 caregivers to ensure the families have access to
round-the-clock support.

In addition, hotel accommodation for up
to five family members per passenger, transportation, meals and others
expenses have been provided since 8th March and that will continue.

Malaysia
Airlines has already provided initial financial assistance of USD 5,000
per passenger to the next of kin. We recognize that financial support
is not the only consideration. But the prolonged search is naturally
placing financial strain on the relatives. We are therefore preparing to
offer additional payments as the search continues.

This
unprecedented event in aviation history has made the past 18 days the
greatest challenge to face our entire team at Malaysia Airlines. I have
been humbled by the hard work, dedication, heartfelt messages of concern
and offers of support from our remarkable team. We do not know why, and
we do not know how this terrible tragedy happened. But as the Malaysia
Airlines family, we are all praying for the passengers and crew of
Flight MH370.
Ahmad Jauhari Yahya

Monday, March 24, 2014

This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents
Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK
company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern
and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the
data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370â€™s flight path.

Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that
MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was
in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

This is a
remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore
with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to
this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In
the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the
earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to
openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided
this investigation.

Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to
the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this
development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I
know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their
privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.

The reduced majority is attributed to the party not being fully supported by its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners PAS as the Islamic party was against the forced by-election that was now to make way for Dr Wan Azizah to takle the Mentri Besar seat.

The Kajang Move as it is termed was for PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take the Mentri Besar seat which PAS disagreed as the Islamic party felt present Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim was still doing a good job.

However, on March 7, Anwar was convicted to five years prison when the High Court found him guilty of a sodomy charge and following his ineligibility, Anwar had put up his wife as a stand in.PAS was half hearted in supporting the campaign as the party is split in supporting the move and this had affected the Malay votes for PKR.

But the result showed Anwar’s move is fully supported by the electorate as the reduced vote is just about 1,000 which means that the electorate, despite some voices of resent as they felt they had been made use of or being abused for Anwar’s personal ambition, still went along with him.

As PKR members celebrated the victory and the political heat Kajang simmer down, the heat moves to Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, who is feeling ‘jittery’ and ‘cannot sleep well.’He is now sitting on a hot seat as Dr Wan Azizah continues to move forward on the agenda of the Kajang Move.

After all, the agenda is to unseat Khalid and replace with Anwar, which now has Dr Wan Azizah to stand in.According to sources, Select Commiiteee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) will find Khalid guilty of removing Azmin from Selangor Development Coroporation (PKNS) without any valid reason and Khalid will face the music.

Selangor State Assermbly Speaker Hannah Yeoh had said that the committee would meet on March 25 and 26 to hear both sides of the story on Azmin’s dismissal.

After all, the Kajang Move started with Azmin’s removal as board of director of PKNS and the Kajang Move, as stated by Anwar on the day of his announcement to contest was to end the feud between Khalid and Azmin.

In short, Khalid will have to resign and be replaced b y none other than Anwar’s proxy – Dr Wan Azizah – as Mentri Besar.

Once Dr Wan Azizah seats as Mentri Besar, the Kajang Move is completed while the theme from Kajang to Putrajaya will have to wait until the next general electioon in 2018.

Liu Guiqui, the mother of a
Chinese national who was on the missing MH370, has dismissed reports
that she was badly treated by police at a press conference held on March
19 at Sama-Sama Hotel in Sepang.

"Thats not true, I was surrounded by reporters. There was a young
policeman whom I initially thought was about to grab me. At first I
didn't understand what was going on but then someone told me not to
panic.

"They reassured me that they were there to protect me," Liu, the mother
of Li Le, one of the MH370 passengers, told an interview with China
Central Television (CCTV).

She decided to attend the press conference as she needed to ask
Malaysian politicians what happened to Li who was missing for 12 days
and did not understand why there was no news.

Liu said she came to Kuala Lumpur as she wanted to be the first person to greet her son Li when he returns.

She regarded Li, who has a daughter, as kind hearted, good, loyal and a respectful person.

Asked about talks that the Malaysian government did not disclose all
information, Liu said she did not care about it as she only wanted Li
and the other passengers on the aircraft to return.

She even thanked Malaysia and Malaysians for taking care of her daily
and did not believe those who said that the government did not care
about the families of the passengers.

"I don't believe that is the case. I am sure they are under a lot of
pressure. I understand that they are busy searching for the aircraft.

"So, it makes some sense, that they (the government) can't pay as much attention to the families," Liu said.

When asked what she would tell Li if he could hear her, Liu broke down
and said, "Mum is waiting for you. Please come back soon. I trust that
you will return safely."

Liu also showed her appreciation and thanked all the countries who are trying to find all the passengers.

"I thank you so much for looking for our missing family members," she said emotionally while kneeling down.

Press
Metal Sarawak (PMS) has refuted an allegation by the opposition that
its smelting plant in Balingian is polluting the environment.

Its group chief executive officer
Datuk Paul PK Koon said yesterday its plant there was using the latest
technology and adhered strictly to World Bank standard and Department of
Environment (DOE) requirements.

“We have been very committed in following all necessary requirements and approved standard since our establishment in 2009.

“We have records to show our compliances.

“The DOE has very stringent
requirements, which we have been able to observe all the time,” he told a
press conference at PMS Balingian smelting plant here.

In fact, he said, emissions from the plant were monitored via online connection by DOE.

“We have external auditors coming once every three months to check on our compliances.

Koon said there were many
perceptions regarding aluminium smelting industry, but over the last 20
to 30 years the technology used in the industry had evolved a great
deal.

“Of course there are some plants
still using 20 to 30 years old technologies, but they are in the remote
areas in Siberia and China.

“So, maybe this is how this kind of
perception came into being. But these old plants are almost gone because
today’s environment will not allow old technologies.”

Koon said the aluminium industry was very important to Malaysia, especially to push its industrialisation drive.

“There are now more and more demands for products like billets and ingots from around the world.

Sarawak is exporting US$1 billion annually. This is a great source of foreign exchange to the country.

“The industry is also about technology transfer. We are slowly getting more Sarawakians to be trained as engineers and workers.

“Out of the 850 workers in our Balingian plant, half are Sarawakians. We intend to increase the numbers soon.”

Sunday is a day of recogning in Kajang – whether the glory of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the same or fading or MCA, the representative of Chinese community in the rulingBarisanNasional (BN) has regain its credential.

The past two months including the 12 days of official campaigning for the Kajang state seat constituency saw PartiKeadilan Rakyat (PKR) slugging it out tooth and nail against underdog BN to retain the seat.

Both women candidates – Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail, president of a PKR that aims to put its de facto chief Anwar who is her husband as Prime Minister while the other DatukPaduka Chew Mei Fun is just to serve the electorate and bring back the credibility of MCA.

Dr Wan Azizah’s campaign theme is From KajangToPutrajaya while Chew’s is serving the people – a contrast on the role of an assemblyman – for the seat that can only make the assemblyman a MentriBesar, not Prime Minister.

The past two weeks saw vigorous movements from both sides as Dr Wan Azizah and Chew comb the ground and meet the 39,000-odd electorate that comprise 41 percent Chinese, 48 percent Malays and the remaining Indian voters.

Issues that were first truly political in nature – serving the people’s grouses and bridgingthe gap between the people and the PKR-led state givernment has, the past two days turned into personal attacks by campaigners of both sides of the political divide.

Created photos of Chew in bikini and Dr Wan Azizah in hagged cloths as a beggar were circulated with both sides pointing fingers at each other purportedly conducting unfaircampaining.

Both are actually desperate but taking a closer look, PKR seems more desperate in trying to retain the seat with higher majority while BN continues to ‘walk the street’ with the aim of chipping the incumbent’s majority.

In an attempt to boost its declining rating, Anwar called for a Reformasi 2 rally at Kajangstadium Friday night which was seen as a failure because the audience hardly numbered 5,000 compared to his first reformasi in 1998 where it numbered around 100,000.

The failed attempt to spur the spirit of reformasi has resulted in a more vigorous campaign on Saturday where PKR campaigners and candidate Dr Wan Azizah hitting the campaign trail as early as 4am with a special prayer (Qiamullail) at SurauSaujanaImpian.

Followed by the Suboh prayer after that, the campaigners hit the trail all over the constituency right up to 10pm where the grand finale is a ‘big-bang’ at Kajang stadium.

If the ‘big-bang’ at Kajang stadium tonight can attract more than 10,000 people, then DrWan Azizah is expected to retain the seat with the majority the party expects – more than 6,000 votes polled by former assemblyman Lee.

However, if the Kajang stadium attracts 5,000 audience and below, then observers expect Dr Wan Azizah to get a majority of less than 3,000 which will be a true feelings of the electorate on Anwar’s Kajang Move – the thought of Kajang Move is because of personal interest.

Chew, on the other hand, has been consistent in her campaign in wanting to raise the electorate grouses to the state assembly and her plea is ‘allow her to serve and be the bridge’.

Her words on Saturday night was “I have done my best and I leave it to the people to decide.

“I had taken all the banters and beatings in the campaign trail, even from those who hit me below the belt, but I take it as part and parcel of campaining in a democratic system,” she added.

But if Chew manages to reduce Dr Wan Azizah’s majority as many expects she will, Chew has already make MCA and BN proud.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

“At the heart of human rights is the belief that everybody should be treated fairly and with dignity – no matter what their circumstances.

This means that nobody should be tortured or treated in and inhuman or degrading way.

It also means that nobody has the right to ‘own’ another person or to force them to work under threat of punishment.”

When we talk about human rights, many of us will always refer to the western views mainly on the subject of freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion and freedom of expression is the three most common topics associated with human rights. In the current socio-political climate of the world, human right is debated not only on the international level, but also are being discussed casually amongst friends and colleague. It is a topic most discussed by people of all levels. The question is do we understand the real meaning of “human rights” and can they be practice by all regardless of the country, race and religion of that particular person?

Many of us failed to understand that most ideas on human rights and human rights activism come from the west. The west meaning, the ideological stands of post-World War II allied countries on the rights and liberties of a human being.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the pinnacle of the human rights activism. It is regarded as guidance by most human rights activist. However, the problem with UNDHR is that they are only focusing on the intention and view of westerners.

And the views and thoughts of the westerners are adopted by COMANGO and many other eastern organizations without taking into consideration of eastern values. Specifically in the context of religion and eastern norms as organizations like COMANGO cannot force western ides in eastern values and culture.

COMANGO fails to understand the concept of eastern way of life and culture tries very hard to enforce western thinking by disregarding themajority thoughts on religion and cultural aspect in Malaysia. Their action of referring the Malaysian government to the United Nation is considered as unhealthy and must be stopped immediately as it is against the aspiration of the nation.

The inadequacy of the UNDHR to be a guideline for eastern countries such as Malaysia is the main reason why our government refuse to rectify the declaration and accept its ideas for the people of this country. As a melting pot of culture, religion and ideologies the government needs to tread lightly to ensure that the harmony and peace are well preserved amongst its people. The action of COMANGO is an insult not only to the country but also to their intelligent.

COMANGO and those who supports their movement clearly don’t understand that our eastern culture clearly cannot adopt the declaration as it was made only for the benefit of the westerners. Eastern cultures cannot accept the declaration as we ourselves have our own rules and beliefs that we follow. COMANGO and its supporters has clearly misinterpreted the UNDHR, they are the sad victims of the western concept of “Universalism”. Universalism is a concept derived by the westerners to colonize the hearts and mind of easterners hence the same as the concept of globalization and the new world order.

It is clear that COMANGO consist of what the Chinese call a BANANA. “Banana” is a Singaporean slang which refers to a Chinese who had abandoned their tradition and think more of themselves as westerners rather than an Asian. Like a real Banana they are yellow (banana skin) on the outside, but white (Western thinking and culture) on the inside.

KLSE

Crude Oil

Save The Turtles

PLEASE DONATE BLOOD

We Are With You

BE AN ORGAN DONOR

Tegas, Adil dan Berhemah

CYBER POLICE CERTIFIED

Freedom with responsibility

PLANT A TREE

One big tree is the equivalent to 10 air conditioners

Tolerating intolerance

Intolerance is rampant at every level and in all age groups of the society, but it is more visible amongst the younger generation as our youth can be seen losing their altitude of patience over petty issues. We seriously need to think over it as what we are going to inculcate in them, which may help them seek success in future. Will it be tolerance or intolerance?

By Samra Arshad

International Conference "Expose War Crimes – Criminalise War"

“Wars increasingly involve the killings of innocent people and are therefore, abhorrent and criminal. Killings in war are as criminal as the killings within societies in times of peace. Since killings in peace time are subject to the domestic law of crime, killings in war must likewise be subject to the international law of crimes. This should be so irrespective of whether these killings in war are authorised or permitted by domestic laws.”